José Lopes, PhD, managing science editor —

Variations of the TP73 gene could increase a person’s susceptibility to developing the non-inherited version of ALS, a study suggests. University of Utah researchers will present the study at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on April 24. The title is “…

Biotech investors MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH), Amgen Ventures, and Alexandria Venture Investments have joined efforts by the new private biotech company QurAlis to search for a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Research has shown that ALS is a spectrum of disorders with diverse underlying mechanisms. Similar to…

A novel mouse model and a new method of analyzing these mice led researchers to the discovery of key molecular changes in the early stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), opening up the possibility of new therapy targets. These new innovations could be valuable tools for researchers to continue to…

The U.S. prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2014 was 5.0 per 100,000 people, which was unchanged from 2013, according to researchers. Men, whites, and people 60 and older continue to show the highest rates. The study, “Prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — United States, 2014,” was published in…

Researchers at the NYU School of Medicine described a new strategy to preserve muscle function in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The finding could have implications for the treatment of alterations that occur in the early phases of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The…

Researchers homed in on how a particular protein, called semaphorin 3A (Sema3A), affects the survival of motor neurons in both the brain and spinal cord in models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their study, “ALS-related human cortical and motor neurons survival is differentially affected by Sema3A,” appeared in the…

Restoring a protein that’s missing in a type of ALS that affects 10 percent of patients stopped nerve cell deterioration, University of Southern California researchers report. The results also applied to a disease called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, according to the team at USC Stem Cell. Their study, ”Haploinsufficiency leads…

Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals signaled that it was moving toward the analysis stage of a Phase 2 clinical trial of its ALS therapy NP001. The signal was its announcement that it had completed the last patient visit in the study. Neuraltus conducted the trial (NCT02794857) to confirm the results of a…

A defense mechanism that uses a protein linked to ALS could be part of the reason why humans live longer than other animals, a study suggests. The research, “Oxidation of SQSTM1/p62 mediates the link between redox state and protein homeostasis,” appeared in Nature Communications. Autophagy is…

An international team has learned how the body activates a protein responsible for limiting muscle growth, a finding that could lead to therapies to improve ALS patients’ muscle function. The protein, called GDF8 or myostatin, determines both the number of muscle fibers the body produces and the fibers’ size. Researchers’…